When The Snow Settles

Fear; an unpleasant emotion caused by danger, a threat or pain.

Her arms were wrapped around her small body, squeezing as hard as they could. Her eyes were shut tightly and her hear head was bent to hide in her pulled up knees. It was the position of a child, a position of one holding a massive amount of fear. It was a position she had crawled into way too many times, and once again, it was what her mind reverted back to. Deep down she knew the fear would never go away, for no amount of kindness would ever make her forgot her past. And no amount of bravery would chase away the fear in her. They were like demons, demons that just loved to sit on her shoulder to toy and taunt her.

When she was younger, and the concept of the boogey-man still scared her, she found herself not running to her parents in fright, but to her big older brother. For in her eyes, who would be braver? The ones who read her a bed-night story, or the boy who stomped on big spiders? The answer had been simple as she was a child. Krispin had been her savior, her mentor, and her friend. But most of all, he had been her brother. He always protected her, and that had never stopped. Even in a life death situation, he had went out of his way for her. And what did she do in return? Run. And when she finally had an ounce of courage, had an ounce of bravado, she got herself almost killed. She couldn’t even pull off trying to be the hero.

And all that had done was reverted her back to her fearful state, tenfold. Now she was hiding in a closet waiting. Waiting for a strange man who may mean her no harm to leave. Waiting for Daire to come back with news of her brother. And just waiting for this innocent, caught-in-the-middle family to fish her out of the hole she dug herself into.
No. She was done with it. She owed the family her life, and she would never forget it, but the last thing she needed was them dying because of her. It was her own family’s mess, and she was going to make sure it stayed that way.

Just as she lifted her head, the closet creaked open. Instant fear hit her, but as soon as she realized that, she pushed it away. The best she could, anyways. If she was going to die, she wasn’t going to beg or cower.

Emily’s head peaked in slowly, before a smile lit on it. Despite the raging emotions inside of her, she smiled back. Not once had she had someone ever so happy to see her, and it was a nice feeling. A feeling of want, a feeling of actual belonging. She liked it, and only wished it could, and would, last longer.

“Mr. Alken is staying for a while. The storm got bad.” Emily opened the door wider which revealed Tod and Jason, both sitting on Emily’s bed, and both with toys. The door was closed, which she was thankful for, and there was some food and drinks on a small princess table in the corner. “Mom said you need to eat. But afterwards will you play a game with us?” Emily scrunched up her face now. “They,” her small finger pointed to the boys, “always cheat.”

He had always been the calm and composed one. He was never rash, never under pressure, and never has he ever felt a swelling of fear this large. His life had always been on short leashes, courtesy of himself. He liked having control and being his own driver of his life, but with one simple act, he had lost control.

He wasn’t ashamed of what he had done, nor was he wishing to take it back, but he was... confused. He couldn’t help it. He wanted Adrae to feel better, he wanted her and her brother to be reunited. But most of all, he just wanted the pain in her eyes to go away. The look in them, the way they burned with such horrible memories no one as young as her should endure, just tore at him. And he was going to make it go away. Even if it killed him. Which it might.

“No! No! No!” The old lady’s voice rang through his ears again as she swatted him with her cane, away from the door. This was why his composed demeanor was crumbling, for the most part anyway. The store owners had been practically no help at all, and this one had turned out to be out-right annoying. Sure, the storm had gotten worse, sure you couldn’t see two feet in front of you, but he was not going to stay in some cramped up mini-store with a cranky old lady and a bunch of women whining about their husbands.

“Ma’am, I really must be going. I know how to hand-“

”No! You stay! Too windy!” He pinched the bridge of his nose, ready to do what his parents had always taught him not to do; disrespect his elders. However, as soon as his mouth opened, so did the door. The old lady, who he was beginning to think resembled a bat, swooped down, screaming and raising her cane. The door shut quick, and once the figure brushed off the white covering him, a smile landed on his lips. Addison.

“Away from door! Bad! Move!” Addison grumbled something unpleasant before walking over to him. Great, now they were both stuck.

“Find anything?” Addison jerked his head to the corner, which wasn’t much better, but they both took off to it. It wasn’t until Addison sunk down on the floor, did he realize the emotions that were playing across his friends face. Fear. Anguish. Pain. Confusion.

“If he is the one who robbed the place not far from here, then I’m sure it’s him. But remember, it could have been as likely the other guy.”

“But what are the odds?” He asked, a smile coming to him. This was good. Sure, the Galae were out hunting him, but he was here. That was one obstacle down, and now one more to go. So why did Addison look so upset?

“Daire, this is messed up. It’s time to... to talk to Sloan. You can’t keep... I... Daire, don’t get your family killed over this.” That was like a slap to the face, and he felt it hard. Was his friend bailing on him? After all he and his family had done? And if worse came to worse, he’d blame the whole thing on himself, not his family. He would never put them in danger, and even if they were in danger, he knew his father and mother. Neither would back out if the life of an innocent woman was on the line. Where did everyone think he got his stubborn-ness from?

“I won’t let her die.” Addison opened his mouth, but he beat him to it. “No! Her life is in my hands, and I will not allow her to die. Nor will I allow my family to die! I’m not some kid anymore, Addison, I know the risks and I know the consequences. And I’m not about to bail out on a mess I got into. You go right ahead, but if you tell anything to Sloan I wil-

“I won’t.” It was a quiet whisper, but he heard it. “But Daire, you didn’t hear the end of what I had to say.” He kept quiet for Addison, but he highly doubted what was about to be said would interest him. What else could he say? That he was foolish? That he was just being a stupid boy like when he was younger? Whatever it was, he didn’t care. “As soon as the storm calms down enough, the Galae are going to every household to warn them and conduct a search. “ I really wish he would have just called me foolish.

Despite the long wait, and the slow creeping dread inside her, she managed to stay calm enough to play a board game with Emily. And Emily had been right, the boys did cheat.

She laughed when she was supposed to, and smiled when she had to, and truth be told, she did have quite a bit of fun, but her mind was elsewhere. Thinking. Racing. She had to take her life into her own hands, and to do that, she had to make the first step. But that was the problem, what was the first step?

A small knock came on the door, before it creaked open. Emily jumped in front of her, as if to block her, and that’s when reality slapped her in the face. A ten year old girl shouldn’t have to protect her. It was about time she protected herself.

“The storm calmed down, Adrae, Mr. Alken went on his way a few minutes ago. He was just asking to borrow some sugar, the walk being shorter here than to town.” She nodded, but said nothing. As fine as that was, it was too close of a call. But nonetheless, she was glad Mr. Alken had came by for sugar. For if he hadn’t, she wouldn’t have finally snapped out of her weak state. And if she hadn’t snapped out of her weak-state, she wouldn’t have figured out that it was finally time to leave the kind family that had saved her.